Senate Democrats Introduce For the People Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Senate Democrats’ plan to introduce the For the People Act in the U.S. Senate. S. 1 is a landmark piece of voting rights legislation that would enact much-needed election reforms in light of unprecedented voter suppression efforts by Republicans. The legislation would expand early and absentee voting, reform the redistricting process, establish automatic voter registration, introduce new campaign finance reforms and much more.
The House version of the bill, H.R. 1, has already passed along a party-line vote. In the Senate, the bill would need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster, meaning 10 Republicans would need to support the legislation. However, Schumer was clear that the stakes of voting rights in this country are too high to not pass this legislation, saying “everything is on the table” to get it done. “We will see if our Republican friends join us. If they don’t join us, our caucus will come together and decide the appropriate action to take. Failure is not an option,” Schumer said.